DRT PO Benakanahalli handling Mallya case to retire tomorrow

Presiding Officer of Debt Recovery Tribunal, Bengaluru, C R Benakanahalli, who has been hearing high-profile Vijay Mallya case, will be retiring tomorrow.
"Services of Presiding Officer of Debt Recovery Tribunal, C R Benakanahalli will expire tomorrow and we are holding a farewell party to our distinguished officer," DRT officials told PTI here.
K Srinivasan, who has been appointed as Presiding Officer for the New DRT Bengaluru, would be in-charge of the tribunal until a new appointment is made by the Department of Financial Services, a central government agency, DRT officials said.
Chennai-based Srinivasan is a seasoned advocate with an experience of 25 years of legal practice at various courts in Tamil Nadu including the Madras High Court, the officials said.

Srinivasan has a rich experience in fighting legal battles at DRT and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal in Chennai, they said.
He had assumed charge as the Presiding Officer of the New DRT, Bengaluru, in February.

However, the office is notfunctioning as the ministry was yet to complete the setting upprocess, the officials said.
Benakanahalli was appointed to the current post on January 19, 2012, prior to which he was a district sessions judge in Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
Among thousands of cases, Benakanahalli has been hearing the high-profile Mallya case related to over Rs 6,000 crore dues owed by him to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.

The hearing of the Mallya case was supposed to have been completed in three months after it started in March last.
"Obviously, a new appointee, in this case Srinivasan, will take some time to know the nitty-gritty of Mallya case, which results in delay of legal proceedings," a bankers' counsel said.
However, a DRT official countered by saying "As there has never been an extension given to any of the earlier Presiding Officers, the new in-charge Presiding officer would have begunstudying the case to keep himself updated in the case andunderstand the nitty-gritty of the high-profile case. I don'tthink there will be any further delay as many would think so."

The case has been posted to September 9 for next hearing.